In the electrical connection between an automotive ECU or the like and respective electrical wires (of a wire harness) on the side of the vehicle body, for example, the plurality of electrical wires have been connected at one time in the past using a comprehensive connection-type male connector on the side of the vehicle body and a female connector that mates with this male connector on the side of the ECU or the like.
However, in methods in which this comprehensive connection-type male connector is used, a large amount of mating force is required during the mating with the female connector, so that a connector comprising a lever-type force multiplying device is used to reduce the force required for the mating work.
Here, a connector for connecting numerous electrical wires to an ECU or the like has generally been required to satisfy several technical objectives such as: (a) reducing the operating force during insertion and removal; (b) reducing the size; and (c) ensuring the degree of freedom in the arrangement and distribution.
In the above-mentioned methods that use a connector comprising a lever-type force multiplying device described above, there are problems in that a size reduction is difficult, and in that the degree of freedom in the arrangement is small because space is required for the operation of the lever. Therefore, methods that use a connector comprising a lever-type force multiplying device have not been adopted much in recent years.
Accordingly, in recent years, in order to further reduce the mating force during mating with a female connector, instead of using a comprehensive connection-type male connector or lever-type connector, a connector is often divided into a plurality of male connectors. Specifically, the use of an electrical connector assembly comprising a plurality of male connectors and a female connector having a plurality of male connector receiving parts has become a common practice in the electrical connection between an automotive ECU or the like and respective electrical wires on the side of the vehicle body, so that a plurality of male connectors are caused to mate with a single female connector.
Here, a measure is taken to avoid buckling of and damage to male-type contacts provided on the female connector by preventing twisting of the male-type contacts when a male connector is caused to mate in an inclined state during the mating of each male connector with the female connector.
In order to prevent such twisting of the male-type contacts provided on the female connector, the mating depth has been generally increased in the past by lengthening the hood portions of the male connector receiving parts formed in the female connector while also lengthening the housings of the male connectors that mate with the female connector.
However, lengthening the housings of the male connectors that mate with the female connector has created the following problem: namely, when retainers are respectively inserted in the male connectors, the semi-mounted state of the female-type contacts provided on the male connectors cannot be detected. Furthermore, increasing the length of the hood portions of the male connector receiving parts formed in the female connector goes against the requirement of a reduction in size.
Moreover, on the side of the female connector having the plurality of male connector receiving parts, the following problem has been encountered: namely, lengthening the hood portions of the male connector receiving parts also lengthens the walls between adjacent male connector receiving parts that are made thinner as the number of poles increases, and these walls break as a result of twisted mating of the male connectors (when the male connectors are caused to mate with the female connector in an inclined state). In forming the plurality of male connector receiving parts on the female connector side, the mating opening must be divided into a plurality of parts. However, it is not acceptable to expand the entire width of the female connector because of the size reduction requirement, so that it is inevitable to reduce the width of the walls between adjacent male connector receiving parts.
Therefore, it is desirable that the mating depth be reduced by reducing the length of the hood portions of the male connector receiving parts formed in the female connector while also reducing the length of the housings of the male connectors that mate with the female connector.
Furthermore, in automotive connectors, it is necessary to provide a lock arm on the side of a male connector in order to interlock the male connector and female connector, and it is also necessary to provide a lock arm protection member on the side of the male connector in order to prevent the lock arm from being damaged by an abrupt external force caused by electrical wires catching the rear end of the lock arm during the assembly work of the male connector, storage or transport of a wire harness, or the like.
Meanwhile, the electrical connector shown in FIG. 7 (see JP-A-09-115607), for example, has been known in the past as an electrical connector in which a pair of male and female connectors mate while preventing the twisting of the male-type contacts. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an electrical connector prior to the mating of a pair of male and female connectors.
The electrical connector 101 shown in FIG. 7 comprising a male connector 110 and a female connector 120 that mates with the male connector 110.
The male connector 110 comprises a substantially rectangular male-type housing 111 and a plurality of female-type contacts (not shown in the figure) secured to the male-type housing 111. Furthermore, a cantilever-form lock arm 112 that extends rearward from the front end is provided on the upper wall of the male-type housing 111. Meanwhile, the female connector 120 comprises a female-type housing 121 having a male connector receiving part 122 that receives the male connector 110, and a plurality of male-type contacts 124 that are secured to the female-type housing 121 and that are received by and make contact with the plurality of female-type contacts. Moreover, a twisting-prevention member 123 protrudes inside the male connector receiving part 122 of the female connector 120, while an escape part 113 that permits the entry of the twisting-prevention member 123 is formed in the front end surface of the lock arm 112 of the male connector 110 facing the female connector 120.
In addition, when the male connector 110 is caused to mate with the female connector 120 in an inclined state, the front end surface or one of the side surfaces of the male-type housing 111 of the male connector 110 contacts the twisting-prevention member 123 provided on the female connector 120, and this prevents the twisting of the male-type contacts 124 inside the female connector 120, so that buckling of and damage to the male-type contacts 124 are avoided.
In the electrical connector 101 shown in FIG. 7, furthermore, a pair of lock arm protection members 114 that protect the lock arm 112 by protruding upward are provided at the rear end of the upper surface of the male-type housing 111 of the male connector 110. By providing these lock arm protection members 114, it is possible to prevent the lock arm 112 from being damaged by an abrupt external force caused by electrical wires (not shown in the figure) catching the rear end of the lock arm 112 during the assembly work of the male connector 110, storage or transport of a wire harness, or the like.
However, if the mating depth is reduced by reducing the length of the hood portions of the male connector receiving parts formed in the female connector while also reducing the length of the housings of the male connectors that mate with the female connector, then the twisting of the male-type contacts provided on the female connector cannot be prevented properly. Furthermore, even if the mating depth of both connectors is reduced, on the side of the female connector having the plurality of male connector receiving parts, the problem remains in that the breaking of the walls between adjacent male connector receiving parts caused by the twisted mating of the male connectors cannot be avoided in some cases.
Meanwhile, in the case of the electrical connector 101 shown in FIG. 7, although it is possible to properly protect the lock arm 112 and to prevent the twisting of the male-type contacts 124 inside the female connector 120, it is necessary to provide the twisting-prevention member 123 on the side of the female connector 120 and to form the escape part 113 on the side of the male connector 110. Therefore, the problem is that the construction of the electrical connector 101 becomes complicated.